


See You, Space Cowgirl

by CoreyWW



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Bittersweet, Bittersweet Ending, Drama, Family, Family Feels, Future Fic, Gen, Goodbyes, Introspection, Leaving Home, Outer Space, Pearl Solidarity (Steven Universe), Retirement, Sad, Self-Reflection, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-21 06:59:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17038955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoreyWW/pseuds/CoreyWW
Summary: “Well ... I suppose this is it,” Pearl said in front of the Roaming Eye.Steven was frozen in place, his black beard whipping against the wind. Connie stood a head taller than him, grasping his arm.Pearl gave a small smile. They had both grown so much ... even though Pearl herself looked the same.Maybe that’s why she was doing this. So she could grow.[Pearl has a heartfelt goodbye.]





	See You, Space Cowgirl

“Well ... I suppose this is it,” Pearl said in front of the Roaming Eye.

Steven was frozen in place, his black beard whipping against the wind. Connie stood a head taller than him, grasping his arm.

Pearl gave a small smile. They had both grown so much ... even though Pearl herself looked the same.

Maybe that’s why she was doing this. So she could _grow_.

After all, the war was finally over. The corrupted Gems were healed. There was no threat to defend the Earth from anymore, no enemies left to fight.

Rose didn’t need Pearl to protect her anymore. Now, neither did Steven.

And while Amethyst was content to enjoy Earth’s sensibilities along with Peridot and Bismuth, Ruby and Sapphire were happy as long as they remained together, and Steven and Connie were starting a family of their own ... that just left Pearl.

Alone.

Honestly, the thought of being at the Temple alone, while the other Gems did their own thing, without the comfort of Steven there to watch over felt ... _wrong_. Depressing even.

When she found her thoughts drifting more and more towards the infinite possibilities of the galaxy, one she once hoped to explore with Rose one day ... she knew. Even though she tried to deny it was what she wanted, she knew where she wanted to go. At least to try to figure things out for a while.

She could have stayed, of course. She knew if Steven had asked her to stay, she would. That was perhaps why Steven hadn’t pushed her, only asking if Pearl was sure this is what she wanted. His little way of saying Pearl’s days of having orders to follow were over.

They were all supportive. Garnet ... Bismuth ... even Amethyst, after initially yelling at Pearl and asking her not to be stupid, eventually broke down into sobs and she understood. (“When you finally do come back though, I’m gonna have make fun of you enough to make up for all the lost time,” Amethyst had said, in a tone indicating she knew that day might never come).

Pearl had already said all her goodbyes ... and now only Steven and Connie lingered. And after that, the stars awaited.

Was it strange she almost felt afraid? No longer having the comfort of a duty to which she was beholden to? After rebelling against Homeworld all for freedom, the moment she finally had it ... it felt _daunting_.

Steven stepped forward, a weak smile on his face.

“Well ... we’ve had some good times, huh?” Steven said, voice shaky.

Pearl beamed at him.

“The best ...” Her lip quivered. She promised herself she wouldn’t cry. When Steven reached out to hug her a moment later, though, she knew it was a promise that was made to be broken.

She embraced him. She remembered holding him when he was a baby, so fragile. Now his arms were like tree trunks, yet still gentle. It reminded Pearl of his mother. Tears trickled down his cheeks.

“Thank you ...” Steven whispered. “Thank you for everything.”

“Thank _you_ ,” Pearl said.

“ _I’ll miss you_ ,” he said, a bit strangled.

“I know.”

“I love you.”

Pearl felt a tightness in her chest.

“I love you too, Steven.” Pearl leaned back and smiled. “I couldn’t ask for better hands to leave the Earth in.”

Steven sniffled and wiped moisture from his eyes. Then he lifted the neck of his shirt and blew his nose loudly into it.

Pearl actually laughed. Some things, it seemed, never changed.

Connie stepped forward. Her eyes were downcast, sword and scabbard slung on her back. She glanced up at Pearl and, with a gulp, gave an awkward bow.

“Thank you, ma’am,” she said in a low voice. “Thank you for everything you’ve taught me.”

“I couldn’t have asked for a better student.” Pearl reached out put a hand on Connie’s shoulder. “There’s nothing left for me to teach you now.” Pearl let out a chuckle. “Maybe when I come back, you can teach me a thing or two.”

Connie gave a sad smile.

“I’d like that,” she said. Her smile faded. She looked to Steven, as if asking him a question silently. Steven simply nodded. Connie took a breath. “Ma’am, I’ve um ... I’ve talked to Steven about this already and um ...”

Connie trailed off, then simply drew the sword from its scabbard. The one Bismuth had made Connie was beautiful, the shining star on its hilt glinting in the setting sun. Connie gingerly placed it on the ground, then slung the scabbard into her hands. Rose’s scabbard.

Connie’s eyes lingered on it, then she held it forward to Pearl.

“I ... we want you to have this,” Connie said.

Pearl stared at the scabbard. A thousand memories crashed over her. The start of the war, all the battles fought at Rose’s side, every fallen comrade, every sacrifice, every tragedy, every moment of joy after ... but most of all, she thought of the day she’d found the scabbard again, and how she’d clutched it greedily, latching onto it, as if it could somehow carry her back to a past that no longer existed.

At the time, she couldn’t think of a single possession she wanted, _needed_ more ...

Pearl closed her eyes.

Gently, she reached out and pushed the scabbard back towards Connie.

“Keep it,” Pearl said. “Thank you, but ... keep it.” Pearl opened her eyes, tears clinging to her lashes. “I don’t ... I don’t need it anymore.”

Connie blinked at her, as if unsure of what to say. She glanced at Steven, who stepped forward and laced her hand into Connie’s.

“Okay ...” Steven said. “It’ll ... be here if you ever need it. So will, you know ... the Earth and ... us.” Steven sniffed again.

Pearl nodded.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

And then, there was an awkward pause. Pearl knew there was nothing more to say but, in that moment, the fear rising inside her made her feel that she almost wanted to call the whole thing off, say it was a big mistake ...

But Steven just smiled and said, “I ... really hope you find what you’re looking for out there, Pearl.”

And the fear faded. To the end, Steven is the one to save her from herself.

It seemed so ... appropriate.

Pearl smiled so wide her cheeks hurt. In that moment, she couldn’t have been prouder of the man Steven had become.

“Thank you ... Steven. Of all the wonderful things about Earth, you were my favorite.”

With that, Pearl turned and entered her ship. As the ship doors closed, they both waved.

When the door was shut, it took her what felt like forever to collect herself. It could have been a few minutes or hours or maybe five thousand years ... actually it probably was about five minutes, but it felt like that latter.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and sat at the command console. She looked up.

And now, the sky was the limit.

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, this is my totally normal coping mechanism for [my favorite youtube channel ending](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC84X0epDRFdTrybxEX8ZWkA) during an already mildly stressful period. This is an idea I had actually kicked around for a while but that was the impulse for going through with it. It ... feels a little silly to admit that but I figured I'd just be honest.
> 
> Also! Since Tumblr is kinda like ... dying or whatever, basically, I'll be doing some more author's notes at the end of works to let you guys know whats up. It's just as well, I never thought I social media-ed very well anyway, it often felt like a stressor in many ways when I tried to. I do love interacting with you guys but I'd much rather do that in the comments than using Twitter or anything like that. Comments I read every single one and they always make me smile so if you ever have anything to say, drop a comment in on whatever. I can promise you while I may not respond to all of them 100% of the time, I always read them.
> 
> So yeah, below this will be kind of a brief status update about stuff coming up. Those of you who aren't super concerned about that, you can stop reading the Author's Note now, it's okay. XD
> 
> If you didn't see on Tumblr, I made the decision to focus on shorter works due to the problem of me never finishing ongoing series. I am still working on stuff that's a little longer, but you will see those when and if they get finished, dropped all at once. I'd rather wait and get something 100% complete even if it takes longer and give you guys a completed work, rather than continue to make several ongoing series that, sadly for one reason or another, stop getting updated. That's not fair to you guys and I don't wanna be that guy anymore so if you're wondering why updates have slowed, that is why. Doesn't mean I'm gone. I write pretty much every day and never stop. But some things might have to cook for longer than others.
> 
> Having said that, there is a longer story I'm working on that is now currently about 24 pages so far. It's stalled out a bit during the holiday season (again, proving my point its a good thing I didn't throw up a first chapter already just in case) but I've recently felt invigorated and I'm confident it will get done, that just needs more time and some shorter stuff will go up in the interim.
> 
> You will DEFINITELY get a short fic from me the first of the year as I wrote one as part of my Secret Santa exchange, that is already 100% done and the 1st is when we share those fics publicly. For spoiler purposes I can't give much away on that but if you like my lighter work as opposed to This Heavy Stuff, I think you'll be very pleased.
> 
> So that's whats going on! If you guys have any comments, leave them below. Thanks for all your support and I hope you have a great holiday.


End file.
